WASHINGTON — AFSCME President Lee Saunders released the following statement in response to the U.S. economy gaining 199,000 jobs in November:
“Today’s jobs report shows how far we’ve come in three years. In April 2020, during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. economy lost a record 20.5 million jobs – including more than 900,000 in the public sector. Now, we are on the way toward a full recovery as public sector jobs numbers nearly return to pre-pandemic levels. However, we know that with so many vacancies still existing, our communities need more public service workers. That’s why AFSCME launched its ‘Staff the Front Lines’ initiative this year to not only help restore public services back to pre-pandemic levels, but to where they should be if public service had kept pace with population growth.
“To continue moving our economy in the right direction, we must reelect Joe Biden. In him, we have a champion who got our communities the funding they so desperately needed through the American Rescue Plan — funding that saved our jobs and gave us the tools to rebuild. And he continues to show his respect for working people by stepping up investments in the work we do. With Joe Biden in our corner, we can fully rebuild our communities.”